Long Island nonprofits, social service groups and other recipients of federal funds responded with alarm and confusion yesterday to a Trump administration memo that sought to impose a freeze on targeted federally funded programs. Tom Brune and Laura Figueroa Hernandez report in NEWSDAY that the memo issued Monday night by the Office of Management and Budget put a "temporary pause" on federal grants and loans to align spending with President Donald Trump’s priorities and to eliminate "Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal" policies. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C., halted the memo’s orders until Feb. 3, moments before it was to take effect at 5 p.m., to consider its complicated ramifications.

1st Congressional District Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said in a statement that he and Trump made campaign commitments to pause funding for some foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations and initiatives like DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), gender ideology and the Green New Deal while protecting Social Security and Medicare. "Should the courts block the President’s actions and instead require Congress to step in, I will work closely with him and my colleagues to achieve a balanced budget, strengthen national security, improve affordability, and ensure that Long Island gets its fair share," said Congressman LaLota.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, "Last night, President Trump plunged the country into chaos. Without a shred of warning, the Trump administration announced a halt to virtually all federal funds across the country."

Meanwhile, Nassau and Suffolk county health agencies and nonprofits are scrambling to understand the order and whether it applied to them.

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Jessica Lynn Elliott was recently named as the new executive director of the Southampton African American Museum in Southampton Village, taking over for founder Brenda Simmons, who has transitioned into a new role as the museum’s president and CEO. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Ms. Elliott was a teacher and history professor at Syracuse University before taking the role with the museum in December. Its mission is to promote an understanding and appreciation of African American culture by creating programs that will preserve the past, encourage learning and enhance the life of the community. The museum fulfills that mission by researching and collecting local history, producing media events, and creating exhibits and community celebrations. Located at 245 North Sea Road in Southampton, the museum is the former home of a Black barber shop that was founded by Emmanuel Seymore, who came to the North during the Great Migration in the late 1940s to escape the Jim Crow South. He purchased the land in Southampton and opened the shop, becoming a successful businessman. Elliott has been an educator for 20 years, working as a teacher of U.S. history, government, global history and geography in the Syracuse City School District, and writing and teaching African American history curriculum for the same district for 15 years before taking a role as a history professor at Syracuse University. Elliott earned both her doctorate and masters from Syracuse after graduating from Delaware State University in 2006 with a double-major in history and political science and a double minor in African American studies and philosophy. After working at Syracuse University for five years, Elliott said she was ready for a change, and in looking for new opportunities, came across the opening at the museum.

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The Sag Harbor Zoning Board of Appeals last week issued three variances to the John Jermain Memorial Library that will allow it to replace a failing heating and ventilation system. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that the variances allow for a soundproof fence that will be placed around the system on the north side of the library